Lid for a Tray

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a lid for a tray having at least one reservoir for accommodating a condiment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a lid for a tray. More specifically, the invention is directed to a lid having at least one reservoir for accommodating a condiment such as soy sauce or wasabi.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Takeout food products, such as sushi, are packaged in a container having a tray and a lid for sealing the food therein. Generally, these food products are packaged with one or more condiments depending upon the food product. For example, sushi is generally packaged with wasabi and/or soy sauce. When the lid is removed from the tray, a user sometimes pours the condiment into the lid for dipping the food. However, because the lid is generally flat, the condiment may run or spread easily, resulting in frustration to the user. Accordingly, a need clearly exists for a lid having an integrated surface for accommodating condiments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is a lid comprising a top surface, sidewall, and lip 106. The sidewall extends downward from the periphery of top surface. The lip extends around the periphery of the sidewall. The lid may have a rectangular shape or other shapes such as squares, ovals, circles, etc., may also be utilized for the lid.

The top surface of the lid comprises a raised surface, depression, and reservoir which are configured so that the lid is stackable with other similarly shaped lids. The depression and reservoir are preferably circular. The depression is concave, extending inward towards the bottom of the lid while the reservoir is convex. By having such a configuration, a user can turn the lid over and place a condiment into the reservoir.

The lid may comprise additional smaller reservoirs in the reservoir for accommodating additional condiments. Preferably, the additional reservoirs are formed so that they have the same direction of curvature as the reservoir.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of the lid;

FIG. 2 depicts a top view of the lid of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 depicts a side view of the lid of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 depicts an alternate embodiment of the lid of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 depicts a side view of the lid of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best mode or modes of the invention presently contemplated. Such description is not intended to be understood in a limiting sense, but to be an example of the invention presented solely for illustration thereof, and by reference to which in connection with the following description and the accompanying drawings one skilled in the art may be advised of the advantages and construction of the invention. In the various views of the drawings, like reference characters designate like or similar parts.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3. depicted is lid 100 comprising top surface 102, sidewall 104, and lip 106. Sidewall 104 generally extends downward from the periphery of top surface 102. Lip 106 extends around the periphery of sidewall 104. In some embodiments, lid 100 has a rectangular shape. However, other shapes such as squares, ovals, circles, etc., may also be utilized for lid 100.

In a preferred embodiment, lid 100 is formed from a clear thermoplastic material so that items in the tray, such as food, can be viewed without having to remove lid 100 from the tray. However, other materials such as polystyrene may also be utilized depending upon the desired use of lid 100.

Top surface 102 comprises raised surface 108, depression 110, and reservoir 112 which are configured so that lid 100 is stackable with other similarly shaped lids. Depression 110 and reservoir 112 are shown as circular. However, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that depression 110 and reservoir 112 may be different shapes such as oval or square. Additionally, depression 110 and reservoir 112 do not have to be the same shape. For example, depression 110 may be square while reservoir 112 is circular.

In a preferred embodiment, depression 110 is concave, extending inward towards the bottom of lid 100 while reservoir 112 is convex. By having such a configuration, a user can turn lid 100 over and place a condiment, such as soy sauce, into reservoir 112. In some embodiments, reservoir 112 may contain a phrase such as “condiment” or “soy sauce” to indicate to the user that reservoir 112 is sized to accommodate a certain product.

Reservoir 112 preferably is configured such that it does not extend beyond the top surface of raised surface 108 as shown in FIG. 3 or beyond top surface 102 if raised surface 108 is not present. This allows other objects to easily be set on top of lid 100 without being displaced by reservoir 112.

Lip 106 is configured to lock on to a tray having an opposing lip to seal items within. However, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that other closing/sealing mechanisms, such as tabs, may also be used. The exact configuration of lip 106 depends on the tray to which it is attached.

In an alternate embodiment, as depicted in FIGS. 4-5, lid 100 may additionally comprise reservoirs 202 and 204 for accommodating additional condiments (i.e., in addition to the condiment contained in reservoir 112). Preferably, reservoirs 202 and 204 are formed so that they have the same direction of curvature as reservoir 112. Additionally, reservoirs 202 and 204 may contain phrases, similar to that of reservoir 112. Reservoirs 202 and 204 may be similarly shaped or different sizes. Additionally, lid 100 may also be configured to contain additional reservoirs if needed. In some embodiments, lid 100 may be pre-packaged with condiments in reservoirs 202 and 204. For example, reservoir 202 may contain wasabi while reservoir 204 may contain a mild sauce. A cover, such as a lid or a peelable plastic covering may be used to retain the condiments in reservoirs 202 and 204.

While the present invention has been described at some length and with some particularity with respect to the several described embodiments, it is not intended that it should be limited to any such particulars or embodiments or any particular embodiment, but it is to be construed to provide the broadest possible interpretation of such claims in view of the prior art and, therefore, to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing describes the invention in terms of embodiments foreseen by the inventor for which an enabling description was available, notwithstanding that insubstantial modifications of the invention, not presently foreseen, may nonetheless represent equivalents thereto. 

I claim:
 1. A lid for a tray comprising: a top surface; a sidewall extending downward from the periphery of the top surface; and a lip extending around the periphery of the sidewall; wherein the top surface further comprises: a depression extending downward from the top surface; and a reservoir extending in the opposite direction of the depression.
 2. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the lid has a shape selected from the group consisting of a rectangle, an oval, a circle, or a square.
 3. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the lid is formed from a thermoplastic material or polystyrene.
 4. The lid according to claim 3, wherein the lid is clear.
 5. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the top surface further comprises: a raised surface extending in a direction opposite the direction of the sidewall.
 6. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the depression and the reservoir are located on the raised surface.
 7. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the lid is stackable with other similarly shaped lids.
 8. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the depression and the reservoir are circular, rectangular, oval, or square.
 9. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the depression has a different shape than the reservoir.
 10. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the depression is concave and the reservoir is convex with respect to the top surface.
 11. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir comprises a printed phrase.
 12. The lid according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of the reservoir does not extend beyond the top surface.
 13. The lid according to claim 6, wherein a bottom surface of the reservoir does not extend beyond the raised surface.
 14. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the lip is configured to lock onto a tray having an opposing lip to seal items within.
 15. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir comprises at least one smaller reservoir therein extending in the same direction as the reservoir.
 16. The lid according to claim 15, wherein the at least one smaller reservoir has a same direction of curvature as the reservoir.
 17. The lid according to claim 15, wherein the at least one smaller reservoir comprises printed text.
 18. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir has a peelable plastic covering for securing condiments in the reservoir.
 19. The lid according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir contains a lip around its periphery for accommodating a condiment lid. 